Torn Miniscus Surgery-Had mine today
 

I went in this morning to get the torn miniscus on my left knew fixed. I walked in at 8:00 and walked out just after noon.

Last Saturday I did my first ever century ride of 105 miles. I am really quite anxious to get back on my bike as soon a possible. The doctor said I could give it a try in a few days and see how it felt.

I will be 60 in just over a month. Does anybody have any recent experience with knee surgery?

Does being back on the bike in a week and doing 40-50 mile rides in 2 weeks seem reasonable?

Thanks

Had mine done nearly 20 years ago... tore it in an ocean wave while walking the wrong way.

It was done with minimal invasion through a couple slits in either side of the knee.

Jeeze if you can walk out of surgery today, they must have really improved things... I was on crutches for a week, and did PT for about 3... which included riding a stationary bike. Funny thing though... I would not ride at their prescribed 60rpm... no way... told them I ride at 80rpm and higher. The staff "marveled" at my fast recovery.

I was out riding again at full strength in less than 6 months.

Buddy rider of mine had his done about a year ago, he was back kicking my butt in just weeks... I guess the surgery has improved that much. Really it took him about a month to get back to full strength.

Good luck.

Here's the story about my knee surgery I had last April. I'm 63 years old.
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?t=404201


40-50 mile rides in 2 weeks. :lol:

Like most things - it depends. I had a maniscus "bucket" tear 15 years ago. Was walking without a crutch or cane in a day but it took a long time to get back to "normal". Mine was a big tear though. I am now getting some arthritis in that knee which shows up at the beginning of the ride before the joint is fully warmed up.

Thirty-plus years ago when I started working as a nurse on an orthopedic ward, knee surgery recovery started with lying flat in bed for longer than seems possible now. A week? At least a few days. Can't remember for sure.

I've had both knees done. 20 years ago what you asked about as reasonable was. Three years ago I was off work for a week (that one was bilateral) lots of swelling and pain and then more or less back to normal in a month. The bike helps a lot. Most days I don't even think about my knees anymore. Don't rush it and give yourself time to heal, comfortably.

I had mine done in March, plus they went ahead and scraped out the arthritis that was already there (at least that's how they described it). The next morning, the physical therapist yelled at me for not being on crutches, so for the next four weeks, twice a week, I dutifully used the crutches to go in and out of their office - and never used them anywhere else! It took me 6 days to get to where I could pedal a complete revolution on the stationary bike. I didn't get back on my trike for 3 weeks, but that was due to bad weather, not to anything about my knee. The only day of work I missed was the day of the surgery, but I milked it to get an extra 2 days of working at home that week; I could have made it in to the office, but decided I'd rather stay home than deal with traffic. I'd say that once you can handle the stationary bike without pain, there's no real reason to stay off a normal bike any longer.
- Bob

MN Bianchi

My last knee surgery was in 2002 so my situation is a bit dated.

I too had a torn medial meniscus repaired on a Tuesday morning and the PT had me doing squats on Thursday. The PT also had me doing some spinning at the same time. I was told to take things easy but to let my body be my guide. My PT later went to the Olympics as one of their therapists so I feel like I had the services of a good therapist.

Personally I wouldn't rush things and I would also ask the doctor.....not the PT...about any serious riding. As good as a PT may be, the doctor is the one who saw inside your knee.

This is in sharp contrast to twenty years ago when I was off two weeks and told to use crutches for the same amount of time.

Update:

I went for a ride today, one week after my surgery. I rode 17 miles and it felt great. Next week my wife and I plan on riding in Sonoma, CA so I am pleased that the ride went well.

Thanks for the support.

Great results! Take it easy and enjoy.

I am glad you are doing well and hope you have no further problems. They sure have improved the way they treat joint injuries.

I am not familuar with knee surgery, but I tore 2 tendons in my ankle 2 weeks ago. This happened on a wednesday, they did the surgery on thursday, was on crutches thursday and friday, Saturday they placed a brace on the ankle and told me that I could ride a bicycle but to let the pain tell me how far. I rode saturday and sunday 25 miles both days with no problem. The surgeon told me that bike riding is the best thing for my injury, it gives you all the movement of the foot and ankle with out the impact of walking. He also said he recomends it for knees also. Still have the brace on, will have it for 6 to 8 weeks.

I had surgery for a torn meniscus in early June. I had been off of my bike for over 10 years before that (prostate pain), but my doctor told me that I should probably consider some form of exercise other than running in the future. I am 58. I thought about trying the bike again, since I've noticed that there are some better seats out there. Anyway, the day of the surgery I walked out of the hospital thinking this was going to be a very fast recovery. The next morning, when the novacain they had pumped into my knee wore off, I couldn't even get to the bathroom without the crutches they sent me home with. It took about 2 weeks before I could ride around the block, mostly due to the swelling that prevented me from bending the knee enough to ride a bike. I think it was about 4 weeks before I could go for a real ride on my road bike, and that always resulted in more swelling, so I relied on ice packs after every ride. Orthoscopic surgery turned out to be a bigger deal than I had thought, largely because of the swelling issue. By mid August I was riding as far as my endurance would allow, including climbing, but there is still a tendency toward swelling of the knee. It's not the actual cutting you have to recover from. Apparently they inflate the knee with saline to make room to work, and that's why all the swelling. The biggest setback I've had was after an all day hike in Yosemite. It was the downhill part that got me. Fortunately I still had the Vicodin they gave me. You'll be riding again soon enough, but at our age it takes time to heal. Maybe it will be faster for you, but my advice is don't rush it. Gary

I was in such a hurry to tell my story I didn't see all the other posts before I wrote, including the one about your 17 mile ride after a week. Congratulations, it sounds like you're doing great. Gary